STEEN MALBERG

from Drawing Attention December 2022

by Drawing Attention

SANTI SALLÉS

A Greenland Sketchbook

sketcher spotlight

STEEN MALBERG, FROM COPENHAGEN, DENMARK, SPENT AUGUST IN ILULISSAT AND UPERNAVIK, NORTH WEST GREENLAND, SKETCHING TOWNS

AND THE “OVERWHELMINGLY WONDERFUL” NATURAL SCENERY.

Greenland is the largest island in the world, with 56,000 inhabitants. It is part of Denmark but has home rule in domestic affairs. After a few days in Ilulissat, I flew 1 hour 10 minutes further north to Upernavik and spent the rest of the month there.

1. Upernavik is a town and small island with 1,200 inhabitants. The people are Greenlanders (or Inuits), related to the Inuits of Northern Canada and Alaska, and also expatriated Danes – a good mixture of people. I did this sketch and first wash of watercolour (left) in front of the subject, adding the final layer of watercolour indoors.

2. & 12. At the start of the stay, there was midnight sun – the sun never went below the horizon – giving full daylight, even at night, with the most beautiful skies and sea and iceberg reflections happening around midnight. I never got tired of looking at the line of floating icebergs in the ever-changing light outside my windows. Sheer meditation. Once in a while there are sounds like thunder caused by icebergs tilting, crashing, and breaking. Sometimes an iceberg would strand in front of my windows for a while, giving the possibility of a closer study.

3. & 4. The main source of income is fishing. In the harbour there are larger fishing boats as well as a fleet of smaller boats. If not professionally, many will hunt and fish in their free time. The local supermarket supplies all the gear, including a good selection of guns and ammunition. The guns were drawn relatively discreetly in the supermarket over two sessions.

2.

STEEN MALBERG

How I did these sketches

Greenland was colder than usual this August, making longer studies outside difficult most of the time. I needed to wear extra warm clothes and fingerless gloves.

All of these works were sketched with pencil in front of the subjects, and many were coloured soon after indoors.

Greenland is a very expensive destination so I am very grateful to the Museum Upernavik and the Danish Association of Illustrators (established in 1919) for making this trip possible. 5. From my house I had a view of the waterworks and power plant, and always seabirds and icebergs.

6. A town built on rocks with winter temperatures down to minus 30 has some challenges. Pipes with water and sewage will quickly freeze. Instead, most houses have a water tank, filled by a lorry several times a week. Waste from toilets is collected three times a week. When one goes to the toilet, everything is done in a black plastic bag. When not too full, it is tightened with a green string and placed at the roadside for collection. Not a big issue really – but different. The staff collecting these bags are the true heroes! The toilet bag was sketched outside – for several reasons!

7. During my stay Upernavik, celebrated its 250th anniversary and lots of Greenlandic flags were seen in town. Before the colonial era, Upernavik was a settlement in the spring.

8. & 9. In the winter, fishermen and hunters will go out by snow scooters or sleds pulled by dogs. The Greenlandic sled dog is a unique species that has worked together with the Inuits since Stone Age times. But due to climate change, the ice has become thinner and the season much shorter – and snow scooters are somehow easier to handle. So, dogs and sleds are less used now, and the number of dogs is decreasing.

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10. & 11. During the summer, the dogs are chained between the houses. Some of them are absolutely dangerous and would have you for dinner if they got the chance. They’re the same colour as dirt and rocks, making it easy to stumble over a sleeping dog if one goes off the usual tracks. Most of the time one can hear the sound of a gang of barking dogs from somewhere in town – especially if they sense there is food on its way. These sketches were done outdoors with the dogs.